Join MuckRock staff for a look back at 2018 in reporting, requests, and black bars. So many black bars.

Over the last year, MuckRock users have filed 13,762 requests, released 2,063,011 pages, and used 7,419 First Class stamps in getting requests out to agencies. We also added five new members to our board, expanded our staff as we brought new three new services into our portfolio, and launched a number of new features. But none of it would have been possible without an amazing community powering out transparency work every day.

From accidental mind control to classified cottage cheese, MuckRock’s most popular articles prove that transparency doesn’t have to be tedious.

In 2018 we were made very proud by our users, partners, and reporters, who all helped to start some terrific investigations and resources. Take a look at some of the ongoing work.

Transparency advocates this year spearheaded powerful movements to change the course of public records laws in their state. From newly formed legislative taskforces to the passage of transparency bills, 2018 was a pivotal year for change in state public records law.

Bay State requesters had a tough year getting the docs.

Hey, it’s not a year in review without a list, and there’s no list like a list of lists.

Last year, we filed a request for Corey Stewart’s various Confederate-related correspondence, and received it around the time Stewart voiced support for a white supremacist gathering in Charlottesville, Virginia at the Robert E. Lee statue. Three months later, a much larger rally dubbed “Unite the Right” saw Heather Heyer killed by a neo-Nazi. MuckRock duplicated the original request for emails, with the addition of keywords related to the rally. We received 21 pages of emails, none written by Stewart.

The National Security Agency’s bizarre FOIA response to its involvement in the Inslaw affair and stolen PROMIS software highlight two significant problems that often arises in these types of internal investigations. The first is that the government’s bias and desire to clear itself can undermine the results of the investigation, and erode public faith. The second problem, which arises from the first, is that it indirectly encourages a culture of suspicion and occasionally outright conspiratorial thinking.

As we’ve written about before, working at the Central Intelligence Agency can be hazardous, even if you never left Langley. With classified office accidents fairly commonplace, it’s not surprising that the CIA made holiday safety a priority, as evidenced by memos dating back to the Agency’s founding.

A recently unearthed Central Intelligence Agency memo highlights the difficulties with investigating the sprawling “Inslaw affair” and the case of the stolen PROMIS software, showing that the Agency was offered a copy of PROMIS as early as 1981.

Over the years, FOIA officers and records custodians have helped MuckRock release over three million government documents. With 2018 coming to a close, we cannot forget about those who helped make government transparency a reality this year.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, supported by a multimillion dollar donation from a hedge fund CEO and a history of expertise in artificial intelligence, wants to become a world leader in examining AI’s impact and lead its integration in all aspects of professional and social life.

Large crowds arrived at Salem’s Alternative Therapies Group last Saturday as it opened its doors to recreational marijuana sales. Increased security and police activity is expected in the area, yet crime incident reports obtained by MuckRock point to a history of minimal criminal activity around current medical marijuana dispensaries and future retailers.

Almost a year ago to the day, I filed a FOIA request with the Federal Communications Commission for emails related to the now-infamous Ajit Pai Harlem Shake video. Today, those records were finally released, revealing just how how far the agency would go to fight accountability over even the stupidest issue.

It was another pretty quiet week, with some continued tweaks mostly focused on the backend to help things flow more smoothly. We are looking to once again partner with Code for Boston on a hackathon this coming January.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been on a hot streak of terrible FOIA responses lately, and a series of heavily-redacted releases from this week shows that things are even worse when the FBI is dealing with FOIA requests about how the FBI handles FOIA requests.

The severe, gray, concrete walls of prison sometimes give way to unexpected bursts of color and potential moments of inspiration. The Massachusetts Department of Correction revealed some of these in a recent public records release containing photographs of several motivational posters hanging on its prison walls.

After a two-year legal battle, a Suffolk County District Judge has ordered three District Attorneys in Massachusetts to release records to The Boston Globe following a lawsuit spearheaded by the state’s Attorney General, Maura Healey. This is the first time the state AG has sued another agency for failing to release records.

New York City released its winning #AmazonHQ2 bid Monday night, the Wall Street Journal reported. The city launched a website dedicated to the new headquarters where it released the bid, the appendix with site details, the memorandum of understanding between the state, city, and Amazon, plus other documents and general information.

Police oversight takes a step forward in California once the new year hits. Two new laws will give access to internal police investigations and body camera footage in 2019, prompting police agencies to prepare for incoming records request.

Governments and private companies using artificial intelligence to make significant decisions should be much more transparent about their work - and quit claiming the details are trade secrets they can keep from public scrutiny, says a new report from the AI Now Institute, based at New York University.

Public records advocates have always fought for stronger laws that allow for better oversight and accountability. Despite these efforts, law enforcement agencies are still finding loopholes to allow for the retention of information. While new police transparency bills in California and a recent public records overhaul in Massachusetts are huge victories for access, requesters still face serious barriers when trying to peek past the thin blue line.

Currently, our development efforts are focused mostly on overhauling user authentication across our services, making it easier to log in to any of our sites while also simplifying permissions and organization management.

More than a year after Amazon released its HQ2 RFP and weeks after it announced the winners, a majority of #AmazonHQ2 bids submitted to the company are still not public. MuckRock and other news outlets obtained many of those that are through public records requests - we break down what has and hasn’t been released.